


Nowhere Fast

by disdainfullady



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types, Veronica Mars - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 10:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4388123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disdainfullady/pseuds/disdainfullady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>  Logan and Veronica get the hell out of Neptune.  Some angst, some fluff.  Logan POV</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nowhere Fast

**Author's Note:**

>  Importing from livejournal: This is for sexycereal who requested semi-angsty non-pool-adjacent Logan/Veronica fluff.  And my undying gratitude to sadiekate for beta-ing.  She rules.  Actually, they both rule.

“What are you doing here?”

 

The expression on his face went from slightly apologetic to annoyed.“Hello to you, too.Don’t they teach manners in the trailer park?”

 

“Nope.Thank goodness I have you here to teach me.I must have forgotten where Miss Manners explained that turning up on someone’s doorstep at five in the morning is courteous behavior.”

 

He didn’t know why he’d thought this was a good idea.

 

She was obviously expecting a fight.Not that they fought all that much anymore, but only because that would cut into their busy schedule of ignoring each other.Courthouse, classroom, hallway, it didn’t matter. They didn’t fight, but they didn’t talk either.

 

Last year, after everything had gone down, he’d wanted to go to her, God he’d wanted to go to her, to make sure she was okay.But he was still angry with her – for turning him in, for not trusting him, even for letting herself get hurt – and he was scared what would happen if he saw her when he was like that.Then the longer he waited, the harder it got, until it was just easier to stay away altogether.

 

But his d- Aaron’s testimony was today.He’d stayed up half the night playing _Soul Caliber_ and trying not to imagine what that asshole would say about Lilly and Veronica, until he couldn’t take it anymore.He had to get out.Away from Neptune, away from the whole sordid mess.

 

And he wasn’t going to think too hard about why, but he wanted Veronica to come with him.Even more than Duncan, she was the person he wanted with him today.And he’d hoped that she might even be wanting to get away just as badly.

 

_Still, maybe showing up on her doorstep after eleven months of silence wasn’t the most brilliant of moves._

 

She stood there, glaring at him, arms crossed over a ridiculously girly pair of oversized pajamas. _Are those kittens?Pink kittens?_ She looked adorable, and he considered telling her that just to piss her off.

 

Instead, he shrugged and quirked a grin at her.“Yeah, well, I’ve never been all that good at following the rules.”

 

“I hadn’t noticed.”

 

He sighed in exasperation, “Look, I just wanted to say I’m taking off and I –“

 

“Bon voyage.”

 

“- thought you might want to come with me.”

 

“Excuse me?”She was staring at him like he’d gone crazy.This was going really well.

 

“I thought,” he spoke slowly, weighting each word, “that you might want to come with me.I- look, today is going to be hell, do you really want to be in Neptune for it?”

 

If she was affected at all, she didn’t show it.“You thought I’d rather be with you?That you could just show up after _months_ of me not knowing if you hated me and I’d come running?”

 

“Look, forget it, this was a stupid idea,” he was backing away from the door.

 

“No, please, tell me.Why me?How come I got the short end of the stick?”

 

_Because I wanted you, because I thought you might want to be with me, because -_

 

“There wasn’t anyone else,” he said simply.

 

Amazingly, she laughed, a normal, almost friendly laugh.“Well, you do know how to flatter a girl, I’ll give you that.”

 

“Look, I shouldn’t have come here like this-“

 

“You’re just lucky my dad can sleep through anything.”

 

_Right, her dad.Because she actually had a parent who might care if she took off for no reason.I’m an idiot._

 

But for some unfathomable reason, she didn’t seem to be mad anymore.

__

 

“Where were you planning on going?”

 

He shrugged, he hadn’t really gotten that far.“Away.”

 

“Away sounds good.”

 

***

 

Neither of them could settle on a destination, so he just drove.It was still ridiculously early and the roads were empty.They hadn’t exactly been chatty, but they weren’t at each other’s throats either, so that was one for the plus column he guessed.

 

After about half an hour she’d fallen asleep again.People were supposed to look softer when they were asleep, more exposed or something, but she didn’t.Her face closed down making her far more unapproachable than she’d been when she was glaring at him, and he wondered if there was ever a time when she wasn’t on guard.He knew he was in some measure responsible for this defensiveness, and a part of him felt guilty, but at the same time he was relieved.He wasn’t sure he wanted to see that side of her.He might start feeling – it was a dangerous road.

 

He stopped for coffee a couple of hours later, offering her a latte as an apology for waking her.And she’d smiled slightly before turning her eyes back to the window.

 

He’d noticed after a while that since she’d woken up she’d been sitting as far away from him as possible, she’d almost molded herself to the doorframe.

 

“You know, I don’t bite,” he said irritably after another twenty miles of silence.If she didn’t want to be here, then why had she come?

 

She turned to him with an expression of total surprise on her face.“What are you talking about?”

 

“I mean that whole act.Sitting as far away as possible, not saying a damn thing to me.You didn’t have to come you know.” _Except she looked surprised, maybe she wasn’t trying to make a point or anything, maybe I’m just overreacting and should shut up now._

 

“Well with such a charming offer how could I possibly refuse?It’s not like this was my idea and what exactly did you _think_ would happen?”She was glaring at him now, looking for all the world like she’d just put their fight on hold for a while and was ready to get back to it.

 

_Screw this._ He pulled over to the side of the road.“If you want to leave, start walking.”

 

“A willingness to leave a helpless girl on the side of the road?Be still my heart, I think I’m falling for you all over again.”

 

“Helpless?Sure, till you have them hospitalized or thrown in jail,” _Shit, that was the wrong thing to say.Why the hell can’t I ever just shut the fuck up?_

__

 

Her face tightened in what he was pretty sure was pain instead of anger, and she grabbed her purse and left, slamming the car door behind her. _God, I am such an ass._

__

 

“Look, I’m sorry,” he said when he caught up with her.“Don’t- don’t do anything stupid, okay?You can call a cab or whatever, but don’t just walk out here.”The road was freaking desolate, and she might think she was a badass, but the last thing he needed was another- was her death on his conscience.

 

She wouldn’t look at him, just kept her arms crossed tightly around her middle her gaze fixed on something in the distance.

 

“I’m an ass, okay?I didn’t mean it.”

 

She turned and her voice was deadly, “Yeah, you did.”She continued, “I’m sorry Logan, I’m sorry I hurt you, and I’m sorry that this whole thing has been so hard on you.But I will not apologize for finding my best friend’s murderer or _any_ of my actions in pursuit of that goal.And if you can’t handle that you can go to hell.”

 

“Pretty sure I’m going there anyway.”

 

Once again the anger vanished inexplicably, replaced by something else – confusion, amusement, maybe even worry. _Worry?She couldn’t – don’t think it._ It was like he’d fed her the wrong line and now her cues were messed up.

 

He was suddenly very much aware of just how close she was.And of how much he still wanted to - _Don’t do this to yourself.Just don’t._

__

 

“I wasn’t trying to fight,” he muttered.

 

“Really? Because you’re remarkably good at it.” At least she was grinning again, albeit somewhat ruefully.

 

“Just, hold off on the hating me until we’re not in the middle of nowhere please?”

 

***

__

 

“You have lousy taste in music.”She flipped through his cd case again as if she thought the contents might somehow be different from the last four times she’d looked through it.

 

“Love you, too.”

 

She shot him a look, and he couldn’t tell if she was amused or annoyed.Maybe it was both.Maybe she was secretly plotting his downfall.Hell if he knew.

 

She sighed and stuck something in the player at random.Neither of them considered the radio, the last thing they wanted was to hear speculations on the trial.Another few minutes went by.

 

“You’re going too fast.”

 

For some reason her bitching was a lot easier to take than the silence of before.At least it meant she was still here.

 

“The road is completely open.You’re just not used to a car that doesn’t need a rubber band to hold the engine in place.”

 

“Speed limits exist for a reason, you know.”

 

“Really?I had no idea.Any second now I’ll die of shock.”He considered going faster for the hell of it, but a glance in her direction suggested that maybe she wasn’t just bitching – she looked alarmed.He slowed down a bit, and caught himself grinning when she flashed a smile at him.

 

By now the sun was glaring down, and he was regretting the fact that he’d left his sunglasses on his bedside table.She pulled out a thing of sun block – did that purse carry everything? – and he tried not to stare at her rubbing that damn lotion into her skin.

 

She offered him the bottle wordlessly, although the look on her face suggested that she knew exactly what he was thinking, but he shook his head.

 

“You’ll burn.”

 

“I’m driving.”

 

“So let me drive for a while.You probably need a break anyway.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

She rolled her eyes, but didn’t push the point.

 

Five minutes later the car swerved sharply to the right.

 

_Shit._

 

***

 

“How is it possible that you’ve never changed a tire before?”She was staring at him in disbelief.

 

“I just haven’t.”That was what auto clubs were for after all.He was not the manual labor type.

 

“Tell me you at least have tools in the back.”

 

“I’m not even sure I have a spare.”

 

“Wonderful.”She leaned against the car door.“So what exactly are we going to do?”

 

***

 

“The tow truck’s going to be about an hour.Seems that’s what happens when you break down in the middle of nowhere.”

 

“Swell.”She scowled at the ground as though it had personally offended her.“I knew I should have brought a book.”

 

“You mean there’s something the bag-of-plenty doesn’t contain?I’m losing all faith in the world.”

 

She laughed and swatted him and God he’d missed this so much.

 

“I do have a deck of cards.You up for a game?”

 

“What are the stakes?”

 

“No, no stakes, just a game.I wouldn’t want to rob you blind.”

 

“You do realize last Christmas was a fluke, right?”

 

“Sure, you just keep telling yourself that,” she grinned at him.

 

They played poker for an hour and a half and the tow truck still hadn’t come.He decided it was a good thing they hadn’t played for money, because she could still kick his ass at it.Although she probably could have taken his money and he wouldn’t have cared, because so much of the awkwardness had vanished over the last hour, replaced instead by a friendly camaraderie.After a while they switched to go-fish, which had them both in hysterical giggles as they cheated openly.

 

The third time he denied having any fives (and she pointed out that she knew he had one because she’d dealt it to him) she lunged at him in an attempt to extricate the card from his stack.Then suddenly her lips were on his and he was pulling her into his lap, the cards forgotten.His hands made his way up to the back of her neck, and he wished briefly that she hadn’t braided her hair because he loved the feel of his fingers through it.He was forgetting everything but her lips and her tongue and the feel of her when she pulled back suddenly flourishing the five he’d dropped.

 

“Your turn.”

 

***

__

 

The truck finally showed up over two hours late and all he could feel was a mild resentment that it hadn’t been somewhat later.He’d refused to play any more go-fish on the grounds that she had an unfair advantage so she’d kissed him again, and he’d told her she could take advantage of him whenever she liked.

 

She’d taught him Egyptian Rat Screw, and then fake pouted when he started winning, and they hadn’t talked and maybe tomorrow they’d be at each other’s throats again, but for now things were working and he was almost scared to speak in case he said the wrong thing.

 

They got back late in the evening and he dropped her off at her door, which earned him a grilling from her dad, but was almost worth it for the affectionate look she shot him as he made his escape.

 

He was walking down the steps outside her apartment when her door shot open again and called out for him to wait.She rushed out and pushed something into his hands.

 

“What is this?”

 

“Aloe Vera.”She smiled, “I told you you’d sunburn.”


End file.
